Projectile



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PROJECTILE John C. Gray, Arlington, Va., Wilfred E. Thibodeau, Cleveland, Ohio, Joseph 1I. Church, Austin, Minn., and Gregory J. Kessenich, Madison, Wis.

Application March 10, 1941, Serial No. `382,514 Claims. (Cl. 102-56) (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928: 370 O. G. 757) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, Without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a projectile.

Since the disclosure in German Patent No. 12,119 of 1881 of the principle of obtaining an increased penetrating eiect by coning or recessing the face of a detonating charge, there has been considerable discussion of the theory involved and the proposed structure has been generally adapted for use in blasting caps. In British Patent No. 28,030 of 1911 it has been proposed to employ the coned face in the explosive charge of a projectile fired from a gun.

The purpose of this invention is to employ the principle of the eoned or recessed face in such a manner as will facilitate fabrication of the pro. jectile and insure its effective functioning. This is accomplished by employing a capsule of the blasting cap type and associating it with a base fuse of the nitroglycerin-absorbent type.

'I'he specific nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will clearly appear from a. description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the improved projectile.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modification thereof.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of an alternate form of casing for the fuse.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference and more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a projectile which may be of any desired caliber but which in the illustration conforms to the general structure of a small arms bullet. The projectile comprises a jacket 5 having a -closed base 6 and an open front endn which is placed a cap l. A core 8, preferably of lead, having a closed base 9 and an open front end is inserted in the jacket and has its front end spaced from the nose of the cap 1.

The open end of the core is formed with a bore I0 for receiving a main capsule II which for the sake of facility of production and availability is of the type constituting the casing of a conventional blasting cap as disclosed, for instance, in U. S. Patent No. 1,462,074 and British Patentl 172,914 of 1921. The capsule includes the usual recessed front face I2 which according to this invention is spaced from the nose of the cap 1. It is provided intermediate its length with an internal rib. or stop shoulder`or groove I3 which may be conveniently formed in the capsule.

An explosive charge I4 disposed in the capsule between the front face I2 and the groove I3 may be loaded under sufficient pressure to insure its plosive material such as trinitrotoluol, or it may be of a material such as metallic powder as described in U. S. Patent No. 93,754 of 1869. The fuse functions in a known manner, the nitroglycerin separating out from the absorbent under the influence of centrifugal force after the projectile leaves the gun and becoming sensitive to the slightestshock.

The fuse may be of the type described in the pending application of J. H. Church and G. J. Kessenich, Serial No. 314,624, led January 19, 1940, or it may be as shown in Fig. 3 whereinrthe casing I1 is formed to include spaced helical convolutions I8. The casing I1 may be in the form of a spring or it may be of a, relatively nonresilient material such as copper. The spiral convolutions of the casing may be held against rearward movement on set-back by means of resilient detents I9 formed on a cage 20 and movable outwardly under the influence of centrifugal force to release the same, or the bag or container 2| may be packed with the absorbent and nitroglycerin in such a manner that it will bulge into the spaces between the convolutions. Either one or both methods may be used. The purpose of this arrangement is to provide for a pinchingv action as the coil contracts on impact. When the container 2| is of metal the bulge will be in the `form of a. convexity forming a hollow thread l232 which will facilitate manufacture and assem- In the form shown in Fig. 2 the jacket 23 has may beused any of the modications shown in the article by Neumann, Neuartige hohlkrper aus Brisanzstoffen,. Zeitschrift fr das Gesamte Schiessund Sprengstoiwesen, May 15, 1914, pp. 183-187.

In operation, the fuse is processed in flight, the nitroglycerin beingvseparated from the absorbent under the influence of centrifugal force and thereby placed in condition to be set off at the slightest shock. The nitroglycerin sets off the explosive charge I4 in a manner similar to that of a blasting cap or the detonators of U. S. Patents 1,534,011 and 1,810,000. The action of the explosive charge and its coned front face has been often described in theliterature on shock waves and pressure waves, instances being U. S. Senate Doc. No. 20 of 1893 and Proceedings of the Royal Society (London) A, vol. 148, pp. 604-622. Photographs of blasting show that the recessed face of the capsule is projected forwardly at a high velocitylwhich of course would be increased by the velocity of a projectile when incorporated therein and iired therewith.

We claim:

1. A projectile comprising a body portion with a closed base and a generally cup-shaped jacket surrounding the base and sides of said body portion, a bore in the forward face of said body portion and coaxial therewith, a hollow windshield seated on the forward portion of said jacket and constituting the ogive of the projectile, a cylindrical containerv tted in said bore and having a closed end with a central recess, said end being spaced from the point of said hollow Windshield, an explosive charge in said container and an initiating charge rearward of said explosive charge,

2. A projectile comprising an outer jacket including an ogival portion, a soft metal tubular liner within said jacket rearward of said ogival portion, a soft metalplate rearward of the liner, turned ends of the jacket retaining the plate anddefining a. central opening, means for closing the opening, a cylindrical metal container fitted in said liner and having a closed end adjacent the forward end of said liner, a central inward recess in said closed end, an explosive charge in said container and an initiating charge rearward offsaid explosive charge.

3. AAprojectile having a. hollow interior includi fing the nose portion, a capsuie ttea in said projectile rearwardly oi. the nose portion. said capsule having a closed end in the direction of the nose portion of the projectile, a recess in said closedv end, an explosive charge in the capsule in the portion adjacent the closed end, and an initiating unit rearward of said charge comprising an outer member of spaced helical convolutions Yand an initiating charge of vnitroglycerin mixed with an absorbent within said outer member and extending into the spaces between convolutions.

4. In a projectile as in claim 3, a separate container for the initiating charge having convexities threaded into the said spaces between the convolutions.

5. A projectile as in claim 3 in which said initiating charge.v is contained within a separate container of limp material.

JOHN C. GRAY.

WIL-FRED E. THIBODEAU. JOSEPH H. CHURCH. GREGORY J. KESSENICH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 11,517 Justin Dec. 10, 1895 1,366,555 Brayton Jan. 25, 1921 1,380,773 Clay June 7, 1921 1,903,348 Anderson Apr. 4, 1933 124,397 Volney Mar, 5, 1872 2,269,475 Pomeroy Jan, 13, 1942 399,877 Graydon Mar. 19, 1889 93,754 Shaifner Aug. 17, 1869 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 504,857 France Apr; 24, 1920 28,030 Great Britain Dec. 13, 1911 9,320 Great Britain June 25, 1915 14,827 Great Britain July 3, 1903 426,982 Germany Mar. 22, 1926 OTHER REFERENCES (Same 

